To Be Strong.

        A Naruto fanfiction

        Chapter 5 - Mission.

"Woah..." Kiba looked around the clearing in a mix of awe and horror, could Hinata have really been the one to do this? As he picked himself up off the floor the animal-like boy peered around at what he had tripped over.

A molehill. He, a great and almighty (at least in his own mind) ninja had tripped over a mere molehill. A molehill! The idea was unthinkable!

Well, no. Actually anyone who knew Kiba would know that he had a tendency to make a fool of himself in such stupid ways as this. Kiba himself, on the other hand, tended to gloss over such knowledge with the aid of his balloon- like ego.

It was surprising just how much like Naruto that Kiba could actually be sometimes...

Cursing the molehill (which had obviously gone out of it's way to place itself under his foot) the boy and his dog scampered over upturned rocks, unearthed tree-roots and the ripped up ground towards where Hinata lay.

"Uhhh... H-hey?" The boy took hold of Hinata's shoulder and gently shook the pale-eyed girl. "Are... Are you okay?" He asked, hoping that she wasn't dead. Out of all team eight, Kiba was the one who had slept through the most lessons on basic medical aid - heck, he didn't even know how to check if Hinata was breathing! Well, he could look, but that coat Hinata always wore did make it hard to tell if she was moving or not...

"K-Kiba?" Hinata's voice was weak and laced with exhaustion. Kiba sighed and motioned that he was going to lift her up, luckily Hinata guessed what he was trying to say and nodded in acceptance.

"So..." Began the dog-loving boy, as he lifted Hinata onto his back. "What the hell happened here!? It looks like a hurricane hit this place!"

Hinata smiled slightly, "Just..." She began, then paused. Did she really want to say this? Did she really want to accept that she had the strength to do... to do all this damage? She bit her lip for a moment and thought. Yes, she could rip up an area pretty well with her new technique, but that was only a side-effect of the techniques real purpose. Finally, though, she reached a decision.

"J-just... Just call me hurricane Hinata..." It was a weak pun, very weak, and delivered in the weakest voice Kiba had ever heard.

It was, however, still enough to shock him into ceasing to pay attention to the ground he was walking on.

Well, at least until he tripped over the molehill again. Only, this time he had Hinata landing on his back. Kiba's ego, and his body, weren't exactly having the best of days today...

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"As the only team to have everyone fail to become a chuunin, we'll be doing rank D and C missions a little while longer." Yuuhi was, to be blunt, unhappy about that little point. Due to the simple fact that none of the 'judges' of the final stage of the chuunin exam had actually seen any of her students fight, they had been recorded as three failures. "Fortunately," she continued, "Due to the events surrounding the final exam, the council have decided to hold a second final exam for all those who took part but were not made on-the-spot chuunin."

'Like, for instance, all of team seven.' Thought the Jounin instructor of team eight, 'As well as Shikamaru from team ten. Damn it all, if only that Sand-nin hadn't forfeited his match with Shino - if Shino had fought we'd at least have had a good chance of having at least one team-member pass the exam.'

Hesitantly, Hinata raised her hand. Yuuhi nodded once in permission to speak, then sat back on her chair and listened to the Hyuuga girl's question. "Ku-Kurenai-sensei... Will, will we have a-another pre-preliminary?"

Shino nodded his head in agreement with his team-mate's question. Granted, he could probably beat any preliminary opponent without much trouble but, frankly, it was really just one big hassle he could quite happily live without.

"HELL YEAH!" Kiba yelled before Yuuhi could answer, Akamaru barking along with him, "We get another chance! And this time there'll be no Naruto to... to..." Kaba twitched slightly as he remembered what happened during the preliminaries - it was, quite possibly, the most embarrassing moment of his life.

"Quite." Murmured Shino who, although he hadn't shown it, had thought what Naruto did to Kiba had been rather amusing.

Yuuhi waved Kiba down before he exploded at Shino - an action the boy was rather prone to doing. "There will be no preliminaries but, for the most part you have shown that you have the potential to become good Chuunin." She sighed. 'if they ever pass of course' she mentally added.

"Bearing this in mind," the jounin began, "We'll be performing a C rank mission today, nothing difficult, merely escorting a small caravan through bandit territory, but it is at least a bit tougher than the D rank missions you would usually get."

"WOOOHA!" Kiba leapt out of his seat and yelled, "Bandits! Finally we get to kick some ass!"

Shino grunted in approval, at least escort duty could prove slightly more interesting than, say, babysitting or finding lost pets - both traditional Genin missions.

Hinata, meanwhile, said nothing. Instead she thought about the training she'd done, and the new jutsu she had - the first non-basic 'common' jutsu a Hyuuga clan member had learnt in almost three generations.

Maybe... Maybe she'd be able to show her new jutsu off. Not that she wanted to, but it would be nice to see what Kurenai-sensei thought of it...

Perhaps then she'd agree to help Hinata learn the other jutsus on her scroll...

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"Waaaaooow! Real ninja!" The girl's voice was full of awe, and her eyes sparkled with wonder. She was just one of the many passengers aboard the caravan that was to be escorted. Like the other passengers, she was heading towards the stone country in order for her family to start a new life there. There were a variety of other passengers, ranging from workmen, to doctors, teachers, their families and even a rather young shrine maiden.

"Hmph." The shrine maiden obviously didn't share the young girl's enthusiasm, "Murderous barbarians, all of them." This particular woman was dressed in the traditional garments of a fire country shrine maiden - a light pink, long sleeved chihaya top which went with rather dark red hibakama trousers. "You would be wise to stay away from them Shizuo, lest they corrupt you with their murderous ways."

"Awwww... But Umekiiiii~" The young girls voice broke into the high pitched whine that only children seemed to be able to produce. She sniffed and pointed at Akamaru, who was perched atop Kiba's head, looking down with faint curiosity. "Can't I at least pet the cute lil' doggy?"

The shrine maiden, Shizuo, looked at Kiba with a piercing glare. "As long as it doesn't bite, and as long as they let you." She stated, in a tone that mean 'And they will, if they know what's good for them.'

Kiba sweated slightly, then reached up and lifted Akamaru off of his head. Bending down slightly he deposited the small dog into the girls outstretched arms, all the while aware of the shrine maiden's piercing glare aimed at him. "Now, uh," He began, smiling nervously, "You be careful, okay? Don't drop him now."

Yuuhi sighed as she watched her student panic under the sharp-eyed maiden's glare. This was not something she needed to deal with. "Right," She murmured. "Shino, you'll be on the left rear section of the caravan, Kiba you're on the right rear section." They two boys nodded and vanished - or at least they appeared to when, in fact, they'd just darted off at speeds most normal people couldn't even hope to manage.

"Ku-Kurenai-sensei?" Whispered Hinata. Yuuhi, however, had guessed what she was going to ask and interuppted before the Hyuuga child could complete her question.

"Hinata, you'll be staying close to..." Yuuhi glanced around for a moment, "... The passengers in the middle section of the caravan - the boys appear too threatening and could cause... friction. Especially with that shrine maiden around."

"D-Do you want me to, uhm, be in disguise?" Hinata asked. Yuuhi stared at her for a moment then nodded in agreement.

"I'll ask the caravan leader for something you can wear as a disguise." She paused, then frowned. "There are too many women here," muttered the jounin, "If bandits attack, they will be more likely to try kidnapping some." Yuuhi stared at Hinata, her gaze boring into the girl. "If that happens you must be captured also, do anything you can to be taken with any others - once they put you wherever they hold their prisoners... Well, do your best to prevent them from..." She trailed off as Hinata paled slightly and nodded in acknowledgement at the unspoken threat of what could happen.

"Y-yes..." She began, before being cut off by Yuuhi.

"Be strong." Murmured Yuuhi, before she turned and stalked off, intent on waving down the caravan leader and getting hold of a disguise for Hinata.

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Authors notes:

Don't kill me, please?

This chapter has been held up for soooo long x.x I decided o cut it a little early to prevent me from putting it of any longer ^^;;

Anyway, major writers block happened, alongside other events.

Don't expect me to post any chapters for anything for a while, since my big college exhibition of my artwork is going up over the next two weeks x.x wheeee. I will, however, try to do all I can to get some things up ^^;; just don't worry if I can't.

And uhh... I know I said you'd see Hinata's new technique but... uhm... well... you'll see it next time! Promise!

Lackey H, Fleeing angry fans.

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PS: This is being added in response to several nasty, rather insulting, e- mails I've received from a variety of people.

If you want to criticise me, go ahead, as long as it's constructive I don't mind. In fact, I like having people give advice on those little things that help me improve my work. (Especially one kind person who pointed out a little grammar error I kept making. ^^;; One I hope to avoid making in the future now that I know about it.)

If you want to try flaming me then go get a coin and buy yourself a clue. I'm really getting sick of people who send insulting flames about things which they don't know

Firstly, the plot of my writing - I'm the author, I know what happens next, these flamers don't so they have no right to flame me on what hasn't happened yet.

You can flame me on what *has* happened if you so wish, but not on what you think I will write.

Secondly, the facts of the Naruto world. I, like all people, have my own take on some things. (such as the specifics of the Henge - transformation - no jutsu and Kuchiyose - summoning - no jutsu) I don't mind people having their own views on how a technique works. At present neither technique has been thoroughly explained in Canon so we're free to come up with our own theories.

What I don't like is when people ream me because they don't like my theory.

Asking if I'm sure of what I wrote is fair enough, pointing out instances of things that could disprove my theory is fine but when people insult, swear and deride me. Well. They can get stuffed.

Finally, if you have a complaint with something that is a Canon fact - please don't moan at me unless you can prove you're right. I'm getting kinda sick of having to repeatedly point out instances in the Manga which prove my side and ruin the other side of the argument.

I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just getting tired of being insulted for no good reason by people who are too lazy to wait for an explanation, too dumb to check the facts or too close-minded to accept any other theory.

I'm sorry this rant had to go here and I hope another will never be needed.

(note: I will repeat this rant at the end of chapter 6 of 'Betrothal' for people who read that fic but not this one, so don't worry if you read both and see it there also.)

- lackey H, sorry he had to rant like this.